Vigilant Issues- Help!

[tealetm]

Hi all- this is my first post on this forum despite reading through it over the past few years.

Anyway, a year ago I installed a used Vermont Castings Vigilant in our shared cabin in the Adirondacks. It replaced a very used and very worn out knock off Jotul (not that it makes a difference in this story...). I bought the stove used and rebuilt it including a new two piece fireback, gaskets, etc. This is the original Vigilant model that had the one piece fireback and a crack in that had me replace it.

Anywho, the stove only gets occasional use so the problem I've been having isn't on the top of my priorities to fix. The stove functions just fine when the damper is open (handle in the horizontal/up position). It will heat well and get well above the needed temperature (+500 on the stovepipe). The problem we're having is after the stove comes up to temperature and you close the damper (handle in the down position), the stove slowly but surely dies down and just maintains a temperature of 100-200 degrees. No matter what I do with the thermostat or the secondary air intake, the stove just dies down too much.

I'm used to heating our house with an older Resolute, so the principles of operation should be virtually the same.

Did I make an error when rebuilding? The pipe is a straight shot- 8" all the way through the roof about 20' up and is clean and clear. The wood I'm using isn't the best but it burns fine so I don't think its the culprit.

The only other thing I'm a bit surprised by, and which may be completely normal, is the "small" amount of heat it takes to overheat it. I say overheating because the left door will begin glowing... yes I know that's not a good thing but I'm mentioning it because compared to the Resolute I think it happens at a lower temperature. It only glows on the left door, so is that just the nature of the air flow inside or is the airflow not correct which could be part of the draft issue? It has only happened a few times, and I can not tell you at what temperature it occurs (probably 550+ on the pipe).

Here's a photo for you're viewing pleasure- thanks for your help.

 

[homebrewz]

Welcome! A setup like that should draft great, and apparently it does until the damper is closed. Check the primitive secondary combustion chamber. Is it fairly clean, or is it plugged up? I helped some friends buy a Vigilant several years ago which was in great shape, but the secondary combustion chamber contained some chunky creosote type material.

As far as the corner of the door glowing, that's not a great situation. Check the sealing of the door on all sides with the "dollar bill test". The gasket might have gotten bunched up somewhere and may have to be redone. If the gasket looks good, the door may have become warped, which would affect it's ability to seal.

 

[Mybooman]

Not an expert by any means, but I have looked at picture upon picture of Vigilants as well as real life Vigilants, in my pursuit of possibly purchasing one. I "settled" for a Resolute. One thing I have noticed, however, is the left door often shows more wear than the right from what I would guess to be overheating, (they are a lighter shade of grey). I haven't a clue as to why, but my guess would be, due to the prevalence of this appearance, it would likely be related to a design issue. Hopefully someone with some real knowledge, not just guesses will chime in, as this isn't very helpful, just a side note. Beautiful job on the rebuild, you should be proud.

 

[claydogg84]

We will be able to help you better if you put the thermometer on the griddle plate top center. I rcommend you don't let the stove glow red anymore. Both the adjustable air flap, and the one air hole are both on the left side. That is where the air is coming into the stove and the main reason for over firing there first. Are you using both air inlets, or one closed? Is the thermostatically controlled flap working as intended?

 

[tealetm]

Thanks- I don't let it get so hot the door glows normally. Trouble is its a shared place so the stove gets a lot of users.

I'll move the thermometer to the top as suggested and report back with numbers but it won't be for a few more weeks until I get back up there. Other than a leaky seal as suggested, is there anything else I should look for when I'm there?

 

[vasten]

I currently run a vigilant in my house daily, and have had flu temps as high as 700 well into the danger zone and never had the stove glowing in any areas. By the sounds of it you def have something wrong with the stove itself.

If the door gaskets are correct, then my next guess would be that when the stove was put back together then there may be a leak in one of the seams. Did you do a light test on the stove? Put a bright light inside the stove and close the stove up and see if any light escapes. You may have an area where the cement didn't seal and is letting air in.

As far as the stove temps dropping too low when in horizontal burn. My first thought would be when you rebuilt it did you inadvertently block the secondary air ports. In the back of the bottom plate there should be either 4 or 5 holes about a half inch off from the bottom of the stove, with the large maybe 3" by 3" square hole in the bottom right hand corner. If any of those are restricted then as you know it cant vent properly. so it would cause the fire to die out.

Also I had problems with my stove dropping too low when in horizontal burn. when I would run it in vertical burn I could easily reach stove pipe temps but when I would flip it to horizontal the temps would plummet down to 200. Only thing that seems to have resolved that for me was better wood, this year I am burning wood that has been cut for 2-3 years and split and stacked under cover for 6-8 months.

Just my thoughts, hope it may help, also curiosity question are you also running a flue thermometer or just the one mounted on the stove? My temps for comparison are on the flue 18" from the top of the stove

 

[Awill]

I helped some friends buy a Vigilant several years ago which was in great shape, but the secondary combustion chamber contained some chunky creosote type material.

How do you get into the combustion chamber to inspect and clean it? Is there any way other than disassembling the stove in the manual?

 

[homebrewz]

I just inspected the opening to the chamber from the primary combustion chamber and felt around in there and pulled out some chucks of creosote. If you do the same and find it needs a cleaning, you could probably get a fair amount out with a stiff wire or maybe some sort of wire brush on the end of a drill with a flex attachment.

There are also a number of creosote reducing products out there, but I'm not sure how well they will work if you just apply them to creosote in a cold stove.

 

[Awill]

I didn't really feel anything noticeable with my hand other than what i think is a normal, slight buildup being the old stove that it is.
Though, unlike everyone else, I can't see flame or any light through the secondary air hole when switching to horizontal burn. Would this suggest there is actually a large build up, maybe higher than I can get my hand in?

I bring the stove up to temp, load the fire box up, bring it up to about 600 and then close the damper. I can hear the direction of the flames being diverted but never see any light at all.
Does this mean I'm not achieving combustion in the secondary chamber?

 

[homebrewz]

I don't know if you will see any secondary combustion action in the secondary combustion chamber itself, but you may see evidence of secondary combustion in the firebox. I doubt you would be able to see it from the secondary air inlet. Are you having stove issues similar to the original poster? Otherwise, if everything seems to be working normally, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[vasten]

you wont see the secondary but you will hear it ROAR.... when the secondary kicks in it sounds like a bon fire roaring out of control. but like all secondary it only lasts till the gasses burn off

also if you vrack the top you can see the flames circle around into the secondary air cut out in the bottom right hand side of the fire box.